Faucets

Kitchen faucets and bathroom faucets are generally engineered to last at least a decade, depending on the type of faucet installed and how hard the water is.  There are various types of faucets (not just kitchen faucets or bathroom sink faucets). Compression faucet Cartridge faucet Ball faucet Of course, the worst kind of faucet is a leaky faucet! Often, homeowners change their faucets for aesthetic purposes or functional purposes (such as going from or to a single handle system) while updating or remodeling. But sometimes a faucet will have enough damage where the performance is affected so that that a replacement is necessary, such as when: The threads on the spout or aerator are corroded or worn out – a condition that can make aerator replacement a difficult task beyond the standard DIY faucet repair (including not being able to stop the leaky faucet from dripping with a new aerator/gasket/o-ring/etc).

Now that the air has gotten cooler and the leaves have turned brilliant shades of yellow, orange and red, it means that the holidays have officially arrived. What does the holiday season mean to you? Does it mean having a huge Thanksgiving dinner with a dozen or more guests enjoying the celebrations? Does it mean that your school-aged children are home for winter break, or that you’re having family from out of town visit? If you’re like a lot of homeowners, your plumbing fixtures are going to take a beating this holiday season, especially if you’re the type that loves to entertain for the holidays. How will your plumbing hold up? Plumbing-wise, here’s what you want to think about before the festivities begin: Is my garbage disposal in good shape, or is it working at all? Do I have a toilet that’s clogging too often? Are my shower, tub, and

It is not uncommon for homeowners to encounter unpleasant odors in their household sinks or water, and when they do, they want to go to the source of the problem and find out what is causing their water or sinks to smell unpleasant. If you are experiencing an unpleasant odor in all of your water faucets, then you most likely have a problem with the main water supply. On the other hand, if the smell is only coming from certain faucets, the problem is probably located in the fixtures or pipes involved in those specific faucets. Does Your Sink Smell Like Rotten Eggs or Sewage? If you are experiencing a rotten egg (sulfurous) or sewage-like odor in certain sinks, it is likely a result of bacteria activity, which can be caused by bacteria growth inside the drain: This is the most common cause behind foul odors. As time goes by,

Treating Damage, Fixing Pipes, and Cleaning Faucet Aerators If you want to conduct maintenance on your plumbing, or if you are experiencing leaks and don’t know where to start, here are several things you can try to protect your home from water damage. Before proceeding with a couple of repairs…. General Tips to Get Started Here are some vital tips on how to handle water damage: See a sinking ceiling? Cut the room’s power off at the main breaker panel before you go in to investigate. Securing water or gas supply lines? Place a hold-back wrench on valves while you do so, to prevent the joints from weakening. Leaving wet supplies out to dry? Don’t put any objects that have been ravaged by water outside. Exposure to the sun could crack or distort these items. Instead, leave them in a dry, airy spot inside. Water stains on the ceiling? You

This post will give us an outline of the various uses for a basin wrench, and how this incredible tool can help any DIY homeowner or home improvement advocate and professionals alike, to get into tight spaces and get a grip on the sink nuts that are hard to get to, especially with the long handle and spring-loaded jaw that allows for a ratcheting type action, that you find on a standard basin wrench plumbing tool. A Handy Tool For Your Faucets  The basin wrench is an essential part of your toolkit if you want to remove, install, or tighten a bathroom sink faucet or kitchen faucet, and it can help you with water supply lines connected to the faucet as well. One of the greatest advantages of the basin wrench is how it can reach places that other implements cannot. It’s very easy on the budget too. They easily

Are you planning to move to a new place? Before you make that huge purchase or sign off on that lease, you need to know what to watch out for when it comes to the plumbing. Otherwise, you could be met with a nasty surprise not that far down the road. Did you know that in the first year of getting a new home, almost half of all homebuyers have to call in a plumber? Avoid getting a plumbing disaster as a housewarming gift. Here are some things you can inspect for as you look through a place you hope to call your own. When you are inspecting the bathroom: Look for water damage on the floor that’s around the toilet. This could mean black or white stains or crinkled, peeling laminate that has resulted from a leak. Step back and forth on either side of the toilet: if the

In order to get the most out of plumbing tips, it could be helpful to get an overview of some frequently used terms. Here then is a brief glossary that will hopefully prevent the need to scour the web for various definitions, as many helpful terms are here in one place. Sink & Shower Parts Here are various parts you may need to access in order to solve clogged drains in the bathroom: Aerator: Inside a faucet or showerhead, the aerator sends water through a very thin wire netting. It does this to increase the water pressure, enabling you to get the force you need while decreasing the amount of water used. Cartridge Filter Faucet: This refers to a type of faucet that already comes with a filter to make water drinkable. Rotary Ball Faucet: This type of faucet regulates temperature and flow through a built-in ball mechanism. Sink Trap:

A good sealant is one of the most valuable items in a home improvement or DIYer’s toolkit, and some kind of caulk or sealant that makes a watertight seal, is especially useful in a plumber’s toolkit, and plumber’s putty is the most common and popular.  What is plumber’s putty used for?  This gummy compound is applied along drains, sink drains and fixtures to create a watertight seal. It remains soft enough that if you need to replace a fixture, you can do so without disturbing the waterproof seal or damaging the plumbing fixture. This makes plumbers putty a superior sealant to silicone. Silicone, or silicone based epoxy, first needs to dry out, and then it can cause trouble when it comes time to replace a plumbing fixture or sink or tub drain. Where Do You Apply Plumber’s Putty? Plumber’s putty is often placed along faucet bases and other sink fixtures,

It can never hurt to call in an expert for even the smallest plumbing problems before they grow into disasters, but if you have the right equipment about you, you may be able to repair a leaky faucet yourself. The steps you’ll need to take for a DIY repair will vary according to the model of your faucet. If your faucet has a ball mechanism to regulate the flow of water, then this is the article for you. Quick Fixes for a Rotating Ball Faucet First, you can see whether or not the leak is due to a couple of loose caps or cap-adjusting rings. Usually, if you tighten the cap, this should do the job; the majority of leaks come from the handle or spout. If your faucet is still leaking, then you may need to conduct a repair job. Repairing a Rotary Ball Faucet This project begins with